by M. L. Briers
“Why darker?” Hattie didn’t understand.
“The Alpha’s human mate…” Tobin started and heard the elder draw in a breath.
“Human? Oh my.” Hattie’s brows shot up on her forehead. That was going to take some explaining on the Alpha’s part and she didn’t relish his job.
“Has had, let’s call them mishaps, since meeting him.” Tobin finished and watched the elder toss that over in her mind.
“Mishaps you say?”
“She nearly died at Craggy Point…” Tobin offered and the Elder sat forward in her chair.
“What was she doing at Craggy Point?” Hattie spat out in disbelief and Tobin waved a hand dismissively in the air in front of him.
“She’s human.” Tobin injected, as if that should answer her query, and it did, of sorts. She sat back and shook her head in disbelief and with a small sigh. “Then a tree nearly squished her.” Tobin saw the woman’s eyebrows rise again in surprise. “And then she fell through the ice at the lake and is now, as we speak, bundled up shivering with an Alpha wrapped around her.”
Hattie’s jaw fell open slightly as she looked back at Tobin. “Nobody is that damn accident prone. Human or not.” Hattie assured him and Tobin nodded in agreement.
“So could the spell have gone wrong?” Verna asked sitting forward until she was on the edge of her seat and waiting for Hattie to assess the situation. The old woman shook her head thoughtfully.
“The spell was made with the blood of the elder’s and pack. Cast and sealed with an unbreakable bond. Even if Lucy were to die this spell would have remained long after her passing. It was written in stone, literally, and I still possess the stone upon which it remains.” Hattie had buried it on her land where it would never be found to ensure that future generations of the packs mates would be brought to the Isle, one way or another.
“So, not that spell then.” Tobin bit down into his third cookie. Verna took a moment to think about it.
“Then another, maybe?” She offered and saw Hattie shift in her seat uncomfortably. It hadn’t been something that she’d thought of in years, too many years. That night seemed such a long time ago now that she didn’t care to think back on it. It was the shame of the Elder’s, her among them that it had even happened in the first place…
“What aren’t you telling us, Hattie?” Tobin could see it written all over the older woman’s face. Shame, sympathy, empathy and then back to shame again. She wouldn’t let herself believe that one wrong decision all those years ago would lead to this, and yet…
“There’s a reason that Lucy drew away from the pack. That she became the way she is now. And I’m ashamed to say that it was a direct decision made by the Elder’s that led to her…” Hattie struggle for a way to put it as politely as she could. “Change of personality.” Hattie felt that was fitting. They had been friends once, but that was in the past. That friendship had died on the night that Lucy’s husband had been killed.
“Lucy had a personality?” Verna blurted out. The only thing she’d ever witness from the woman whenever they crossed paths was scorn and disdain. It was hard to believe that she had ever been any other way.
“Lucy was a warm woman once. Happy and carefree, much like you, little wolf.” Tobin eyed Hattie. He’d heard the rumours of course. But the pack had closed ranks, even to him and he’d never managed to discover exactly what had happened on the night Lucy’s husband had died. But Lucy had changed after that, and he’d assumed it was losing her mate that had done it.
“She loved her husband with a fire that burned brightly. Was eagerly looking forward to having babies.” Hattie let her gaze drift away from Verna back to her hands on her lap. “There was an accident and one of the pack’s mates had died. The elder’s watched the surviving mate for signs that he would turn rogue, but we never saw any.” Hattie stopped and chewed that thought over. “We never wanted to see any.” Hattie bit out with the bitterness of the thought.
“We left it too late to act. The rogue killed Lucy’s husband, George.” Hattie informed them and she heard Verna’s intake of breath in surprise and nodded her head in agreement. They should have acted sooner. “Of course the pack hunted the rogue down and ended him, but the damage had already been done. Lucy had vowed vengeance against the pack, but we assumed that vengeance was an eye for an eye…” She looked up then and directed her questioning gaze towards Tobin.
“Perhaps not. Perhaps she was biding her time.” Tobin offered and Hattie considered it.
“Perhaps.” She agreed. “It had been the Alpha’s decision not to end the rogue’s life that led to George dying.” Hattie looked to Verna. “That Alpha was your father.”
“So Lucy can’t break the original spell, but she can supplement it with another. Draw the mates in and kill them off?” Tobin offered and Hattie growled long and hard.
“So the new mates are in danger.” Verna rushed to her feet. “Olivia…”
“Doesn’t know she’s in danger and might try to seek out the spell or the speller.” Tobin was up on his feet a moment later. Heading towards the door he heard the young She-Wolf following hard on his heels and turned towards her. “You stay with Hattie and don’t leave the damn house.” He ordered her and saw her blink in confusion.
“But I’m not a mate.” She rushed out. Confused by his sudden protectiveness.
“No, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get caught in the crossfire.” Tobin yanked open the front door and cut off her protest as he ran to his jeep. It didn’t mean he couldn’t hear her cursing and protesting as he went.
CHAPTER SIX
Isaac felt her move against him in the bed. With the length of her body pressed against his and his arms and legs wrapped around her, he had felt every shiver that had gone through her, every quiver of her body as it continued to slowly warm bone deep. He’d whispered words against her hair, as he felt her grow stronger and stronger, willing that strength into her. Now that she was starting to stir, he wondered how best to handle the fact that if she woke to find him naked against her, would she pierce the air with another bout of shrieking like a banshee?
He was more than prepared to take that chance for just a while longer of having her in his arms. He knew he could have asked the Vampire to heal her with his blood, and yet it would have been another thing he would have to explain to her when she woke. Not to mention the fact that the damn Vampire had done enough tonight. Running off with his mate and making him give chase. Isaac knew why they had done it, but it still made him madder than hell to remember the chase.
Kerry stirred again and her movement caused him to harden even further against her body. He couldn’t help his natural reaction to being naked with his mate. While she was recovering it hadn’t happened, his protective gene had kept the mating gene at bay, but now she was out of danger… well, all bets were off.
He felt her body melt further into his. The nature mating pull that flowed inside her very blood gave her little choice. Then, as she started to awaken, he felt her body go rigid. The moment of truth had arrived, would she scream?
“W-what the hell do you think you’re doing?” She breathed out, trying to pull away from him but unable to move because of the way he had caged her inside his arms and legs.
“Body heat. Try to remember what happened before you rush to judgement on this moment.” He thought it was a logical request. He knew he should have let her go and moved back from her the moment she had stiffened, but he didn’t want her running again.
“B-body heat!” She exclaimed. Squirming against him and making him groan with the need of desire that tore through him.
‘Mine.’
“While that feels very enjoyable. I suggest you stay still.” He couldn’t hold back the low growl of his beast that ran with his words against her ear. For a long moment he felt her still, felt her body start to melt and then she was back to squirming again.
“Let me up you big oaf.” She ground out between clenched teeth. This was all wrong. Sh
e at least liked to date a man before she ended up naked in bed with them. Not that she’d been naked or otherwise in bed with a man for what felt like an eternity lately. And this man? Well, he might have been as sexy as hell, but he wasn’t exactly dating material.
“That’s not a good idea considering you’re naked.” He offered and she stilled against him again, thinking that one through.
Bugger, but he was right. She would have ended up throwing back the covers and jumping out of bed only to stand there naked in front of him. Again! Ok, so he’d saved her even more mortification, but that didn’t excuse the fact that his naked body was pressed against her naked body… Was that his…? Either that or he had a third bloody leg!
Just the thought of his third leg pressed against her filled her with the kind of excitement reserved for finding out you’d won the lottery. He wasn’t exactly the lottery, or the catch of the century. He was… naked! Naked and wrapped around me like a bloody vine, do s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g.
“If you don’t move, I’m not going to be the only one having a very bad day.” She heard the low sigh as he slowly unwrapped his body from around hers. No… Wait, yes. That was what she wanted, right? But then why did it leave her wanting already? She hadn’t realised just how good it felt to be surrounded by him until he pulled away, somewhat reluctantly, she thought, as his hand took a long moment to trail over the bare skin of her hip. Then he was gone.
He might have only slid over to the far side of the bed but it felt as if he’d run off to the moon, and she didn’t know why, but she longed for the feel of him beside her again. Crazy. Everything was crazy. Maybe almost dying three times had done that, but…Oh Lord, she’d fallen through the ice… Kerry shivered, not the everyday kind of shiver, but the long hard shiver that felt like a ghost had walked through your body and lingered on the way.
“Are you still cold?” His deep gravelly voice reached out to her and soothed her raw nerves.
“You saved me again, didn’t you?” She started to turn towards him in the bed, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that. Her body felt bereft of his warmth, his touch. It was the most insane feeling she ever had. She’d known this man for what seemed like five minutes, and in the grand scheme of things it really was just a blink of the eye, and yet he felt safe, familiar…
But she didn’t even like him that much. He was arrogant, annoying, a man’s man. All man. But a man that would have been suited to a bygone age when men ruled the roost and women were mere trinkets that adorned them. How could she be attracted to him? Stockholm syndrome? No, he wasn’t her captor. Hero worship? Weren’t people supposed to fall for the person that rescued them? Well he’d done that three times now, three times the charm? What charm? If he had a little charm behind the gruff then maybe…
“It was unwise to try to cross the lake…” There was a little annoyance in his tone, a little arrogant superiority that ruffled her feathers.
“Well I didn’t know there was a bloody lake there, did I? What a stupid place to put a lake…” She rushed to denial of just how stupid the whole escapade had been. Hadn’t she known that the moment she’d set out on her journey? Hadn’t it been her pride that kept her feet walking?
“In the middle of the country side…” He offered as a statement of fact. “Sure. Whoever designed the planet should have been more thoughtful.”Now there was arrogance and a big dollop of sarcasm and she didn’t appreciate it. She winced with the knowledge that she was an idiot and he was going to rub it in.
“Thank you for saving me…” She sighed. “Again.” How had she managed to survive in the city for her whole lifetime when she’d spent a whole day on this Isle trying to live?
“Why did you run away?” The urge to reach out and touch her was burning within him like wildfire. She started to turn towards him and then stopped; now all he had was her side profile and the feel of her body so close, but just out of his arms. He wanted her within his arms again, more than she could ever imagine.
“Run away? You make me sound like a petulant child.”
“Weren’t you?” He was still as mad as hell at her for leaving, for running, for initiating the hunt within his beast that could have ended badly for her, for him, for them. And yet she’d nearly died out there in the water, how mad at her could he be when he was so grateful that she was still alive?
Kerry felt his words like a slap in the face. Her mind rushed to defend herself, her actions, but as her heart hammered within her chest she wasn’t slow to realise that he was right. She could have died. He could have died.
“I wasn’t running away…”
“You left via the window.” She heard the amusement within his voice and it made her turn towards him. The urge to see him smile, even with only his eyes was paramount in her mind. She’d known there would be anger before and she hadn’t wanted to see it, but now… There was still an angry frown that resided on his face, but his dark eyes held the warmth of amusement that made her feel slightly better.
Isaac took her in. She still looked pale, even with the slight colour of embarrassment that touched her cheeks. Her eyes looked a little wary of him and he didn’t like it, he didn’t want her to view him that way. But he had been constantly berating her since the moment he’d met her, how else was she to view him? He saw the way her teeth caught on her bottom lip as her eyes took him in, now that he liked.
“I did, didn’t I?” Her eyes narrowed on his and she had the urge to reach up and stroke away the two little ridges that had formed between his brows over his nose. Those dark brown eyes starred back at her with an air of amusement that she wanted to see more of. The man didn’t seem to rush to a smile too much around her, but when he did, she liked it.
“We have perfectly good doors in this house. You could have chosen any one of them.” There was the start of a smile and she waited for more as her pulse started to skip to its own beat again. God, but she wanted him to touch her, just a touch, maybe more, but for now a touch was needed to stop the nervousness that was fluttering inside her. She was naked beside him in bed, he’d been wrapped around her damn body and she longed to feel that again. Am I going crazy?
Kerry went to speak but his hand started to come towards her face and she lost the will to make a sound. When his fingertips brushed against her cheek and he tucked a wayward strand of her hair behind her ear she caught her breath. She thought his touch would still the fluttering, but it only made it worse. There wasn’t just fluttering but a jolt of awareness for that touch deep within her.
“How do you feel?” His deep tone was as soft as she thought she’d heard it to date.
Insane. Horny. Alone. Needy. Wanting…you.
“Fine.” She lied. Her body ached with more than just the battering it had taken that day and when his fingertips moved back down her cheek, she almost moaned with the rush of desire she felt at that moment. There had never been a time in her life that she actually wanted something so badly as she wanted to feel his arms around her again. She actually felt as if she was going to cry with the insanity of it all, and she wasn’t someone who cried easily.
Isaac could feel her emotions. They were like a stormy sea within her, and with little wonder. The woman had been through more today than she probably should have experienced in her lifetime. He wanted to comfort her, to sooth her in the way that only he could, but she was emotionally fragile and he didn’t want to push her over the edge.
“Not fine.” She finally admitted to herself and to him, and it wasn’t really that hard to do. Tears welled in her eyes and she was torn between turning away and reaching out for him. She didn’t know him. He wasn’t her burden to shoulder, and yet he had, three times already in one day.
“Come here, lass.” His gentle tone made her want to cry even more. It was as if he’d pushed the button within her that opened the floodgates and she tried to hold back the water, but when his other hand reached for her body under the covers and he pulled her towards him, the dam burst.
Isaac felt he
r body melt into his. She didn’t even seem to notice that he was still hard for her, or she didn’t care. She needed his comfort and he gave it willingly. Tucking her head against his chest, under his chin, as he wrapped her inside his arms and felt her hands flatten against his chest. He felt the silent sobs wrack her body, felt the wetness of her tears against his skin and his heart went out to her. Stroking down her back with one lazy hand, he breathed soothing words of comfort against her hair.
‘Mine.’ His beast was stating his claim, but it wasn’t so much the claim on her body right then as a need to protect her from the world. She was his mate and he longed to put everything right within her world, his world, to make her happy and to sooth away her tears.
“I don’t cry…” She sounded a little helpless, a little hopeless, a little breathless and it reached to his heart.
“My chest says differently.” He teased. The brush of her fingertips against his skin made him smile. Like she was trying to wipe away the evidence of her tears.
“I’m sorry…” Her voice was smaller than he’d heard it before. More fragile, and he had to admit, he’d preferred it when she was verbally attacking him. When she was filled with a fire, a feistiness about her and not the helplessness she felt right now. She was human, next to him she was helpless, but she had a strength of will about her that probably matched his own.
“There’s no need…” She was his mate, for better or worse. Whatever life threw at them he would always be at her side to protect her, even from her own folly. Together they would overcome everything. She didn’t have to be sorry for having emotions, for feeling, for allowing him to take care of her the way he should.
“I’m being an idiot.”
“You’re female, doesn’t that go with the territory?” He teased and felt her stiffen slightly against him. Felt a rush of her emotions again, this time with a strength behind them.
“You’re a butthead.” She didn’t have the will to move away from him.